Forest Prairie Edge in Saskatoon

  • May 29, 2014

Please join UMP and the Saskatoon Indigo Bookstore in welcoming Merle Massie.

When: Thursday, May 29, 7:00 pm
Where: Indigo (3322 8th Street East), Saskatoon, SK
Cost: FREE

The event will feature remarks from Toddi Steelman, School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan.

About the Book
Saskatchewan is the epitome of the “prairie” provinces, even though half of the province is covered by boreal forest. The Canadian penchant for dividing this vast country into easily-understood “regions” has reduced the Saskatchewan identity to its southern prairie denominator and has distorted cultural and historical interpretations to favor the prairie south.

Forest Prairie Edge is a deep-time investigation of the edge land, or ecotone, between the open prairies and boreal forest of Saskatchewan. Ecotones are transitions from one landscape to another, where social, economic, and cultural practices of different landscapes are blended. Focusing on the Prince Albert region ecotone, Merle Massie delves deeply into the varied uses of the land over the centuries, from Indigenous meeting place to mixed farming community, from transportation hub to industrial resource extraction site. Along the way we meet fascinating area residents, some just travelling through and others whose presence had lasting impacts on the land through political and commercial enterprises.

By studying what other historians have commonly dismissed as “scrub land,” Massie shows how the edge ecotone has repeatedly offered refuge from the economic and environmental instability of the southern prairie landscape. Her lively and engaging book overturns long-held assumptions about settlement patterns, economic development, and what it means to be from the “prairies.”

About the Author
Merle Massie is a Saskatchewan writer, editor, and farmer specializing in local, rural, and environmental history.